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Light-Up! Night Saturday opens Nights of Lights downtown

Nights of Lights begins with alighting ceremony called Light-Up! Night at 6:45 p.m. Nov. 17, staged in the city’s historic Plaza de la Constitución, between King Street and Cathedral Place, located in the heart of the historic district.

Nights of Lights begins with a spectacular lighting ceremony appropriately called Light-Up! Night staged in the city’s historic Plaza de la Constitución, between King Street and Cathedral Place, located in the heart of the historic district.

The program begins at 4 p.m. Nov. 17 with a spirited holiday performance by Showtime USA in front of City Hall/Lightner Museum, 75 King St.

For the Light-Up! Night, Showtime USA will deliver a wide variety of holiday musical favorites.

At 5:30pm, the All Star Orchestra, under the direction of Gary Strohminger, returns for another year to perform swing and big band sounds in grand holiday style.

The 16-piece band, performing from the gazebo, will fill the Plaza with holiday tunes.

The most exciting moment on Light-Up! Night is the light-up itself and has been since Nights of Lights began. In the early years of the event, government officials were called upon to flip-the-switch, then later the honor was given to members of the community identified as unsung heroes, those who contributed to the betterment of the community often without recognition.

Current Mayor Joe Boles took the best of both traditions and created a new one by recognizing those who have given of themselves as public servants to the city but who may have been forgotten.

Mayor Boles has invited all former St. Augustine Mayors to join him in Light-Up! Night ceremonies and then each year one of those present has the honor of flipping the switch to light the city.

Mayor Boles is St. Augustine’s 118th mayor since the city became part of the United States in 1821.

The lighting ceremony starts at 6:30 p.m., with light-up set for 6:45 p.m.

Nights of Lights awards

What started as a suggestion by a city commissioner as a way to distinguish St. Augustine for an extended holiday season by decorating it with white lights, Nights of Lights has become one of the Southeast’s most recognized holiday events.

Running annually from the Saturday before Thanksgiving through the end of January, Night of Lights was named by AAA as one of its 12 Favorite Places to Catch the Holiday Spirit in the USA and Canada, recognized by the American Bus Association as one of the nation’s top 100 events several times, and was identified by National Geographic magazine as one of the top 10 places to see holiday lights.